Non-profit raising awareness to the rise of child abuse cases in Luzerne County
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Child abuse is an alarming issue happening across our nation and one Luzerne County non-profit is working toward raising awareness about it happening in our area.
Child abuse is an alarming issue happening across our nation.. As at least one in seven children have experienced it in the past year.
28/22 News Reporter Sydney Kostus stopped by a Luzerne County non-profit that is working to raise awareness about it happening in our region during child abuse prevention month.
April is child abuse prevention month. It’s a topic difficult to talk about, that’s happening in our communities.
“For the child advocacy centers across Pennsylvania, over 15,000 kids in Pennsylvania were abused last year and needed our services,” explained Shannon Peduto, executive director of Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center.
Staggering statistics were found concerning child abuse and neglect across the Keystone State last year.
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Here in Luzerne County, more than 3,000 calls about suspected abuse were reported to childline, an upward trend from previous years.
“We have things where children are burned, children are hit. We see fingerprints on children when they’re coming in or even bruises, but we also see where children are being sexually assaulted,” Peduto said.
Shannon Peduto is the executive director of the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center in Wilkes-Barre.
She says the center has provided free support to more than 5,000 children and their families who suffered abuse since opening back in 2014, but in some cases, the report didn’t come in time.
“We’ve had children where it was too late and they didn’t make it because people saw things but they didn’t want to get involved, they were afraid to get involved, they said, ‘It’s not my business,’ and a child lost their life,” Peduto told 28/22 News.
That’s why Peduto says if you see something, say something. They said looking for signs in children spanning from physical abuse to behavioral changes are things worth reporting.
“We want parents and any caregiver to be involved in a child’s life. Look just to see if anything that they’re doing is different. If they’re saying something different, using different terminology, or if they have knowledge that only an adult should have, that is a big clue that something is going on,” Peduto said.
To report suspicions of abuse or neglect of children call 1-800-932-0313 or report it online.
The Luzerne County Children’s Advocacy Center held a pinwheel for prevention event, where they planted 528 pinwheels on the courthouse lawn.
Another pinwheel event is set for Thursday in Dallas.
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